


Succeeding

by Higuchimon



Series: Reversal [32]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Diversity Writing Challenge, Gen, This is my reversal world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 15:26:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20798843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuchimon/pseuds/Higuchimon
Summary: When a war rages on, neither side can be without a leader for long.





	Succeeding

**Series:** Reversal||**Story:** Succeeding  
**Characters:** Johan, Edo||**Ship:** N/A  
**Chapters:** 1-1||**Words:** 500  
**Genre:** Drama||**Rated:** G  
**Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, GX Reversal AU, A99, less than half dialogue  
**Notes:** Timeframe is not long after Johan is captured.  
**Summary:** When a war rages on, neither side can be without a leader for long.

* * *

Johan didn’t come back. 

At first that wasn’t much of a worry. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been gone for days on a mission of some sort. Everyone in the rebellion’s high command knew that he spent at least some of his time searching for the siblings that he’d lost years earlier, before the war got rolling. 

But he didn’t come back. There wasn’t a hint of a word, let alone the hint of a sign. 

Bad enough that he’d been prowling the edges of Haou’s borders when he vanished. They all knew that Haou had some sort of interest in Johan. Exactly what that interest was, aside from him being the rebellion’s leader, no one knew, and most of them didn’t want to know. If Johan had any ideas, he’d kept them to himself. 

Saiou, Mizuchi, Fujiwara, and the handful of other spellcasters and psychics on their side turned their minds and powers towards attempting to find him. What they achieved wasn’t much more than a sense of darkness. They all knew what that meant, though none of them wanted to be the ones who said it. 

Manjoume, Asuka, Jim, O’Brien, Shou, Fubuki, Kenzan, and Ryou all divided the area Johan had been in between them and searched there for any signs. Only a few faint hints rewarded their efforts, and none of those were clear enough to show what happened. 

Edo carefully poured over the notes Johan gathered and sent spies out to check and double check. Their reports told even less. 

Edo made the final statement, after three months of fruitless searching and lives lost. One by one, he looked at each of the inner council as they sat at their circular table. 

“Haou has him. We’ve all suspected it since he vanished. With as little information as we’re getting, that’s the only answer.” 

None of them wanted to admit it out loud. Not even Edo himself did. The thought of anyone at all being held in Haou’s awful grip stirred up the stuff of nightmares in everyone. But it remained true, be it spoken or unspoken, and reluctantly, ever so painfully, decisions had to be made. 

Johan was their leader, making the hard choices, deciding who went where and did what, planning battles so the fewest number of people died but the greatest gains could be made. He’d forged alliances with spirits and humans alike, having come to be known as a bridge between the two peoples. 

Now someone else had to take over that position, to be the one to send others into certain death and doom, and if the chance allowed, to bring Johan back from whatever torment Haou forced him to endure. 

No one argued when Edo assumed the post. He wasn’t the sort of person that Johan was, but he knew how to do many things, and what he couldn’t do, he knew who could, and had them do it. 

Edo never wished to lead. But he did his best. 

* * *

**The End**

**Notes:** So, remember that piece I did with Asuka a while back? **Only Choice**? If all goes well this weekend, look forward to the final day of the September Reversal Project exploring that in more detail. It’s going to be **scorching**.


End file.
